The title of Caitlin Galway’s new collection of short stories, A Song for Wildcats, sounds like something written by George R.R. Martin or Suzanne Collins. Although it is not a work of fantasy, situating itself firmly in the realm of literary fiction, it does contain elements of the fantastic. Each of the five stories in this collection stretch the boundaries of contemporary literary fiction and in doing so establishes Galway’s unique voice and style.
Rarely does a cover of a book so well represent its contents. A painting askew on an off-white wall, its subject, a man in a rowboat, paddling toward a starry horizon, water spilling out of the frame and down the wall itself. Galway’s stories contain that same haunting sense that the borders of our world, our understanding, are perhaps more permeable than we’ve been led to believe.
Galway’s stories contain that same haunting sense that the borders of our world, our understanding, are perhaps more permeable than we’ve been led to believe.
Galway’s highly lyrical style pays homage to writers of the nineteenth century, without the marathon sentences. It lends a Victorian ghost story feel to these stories without dulling difficult subject matter. A Song For Wildcats takes readers on journeys to far-flung locations, from Australian outback to the Nevada Desert to the Tarrytown of the past. Galway expertly mines these settings for all the mystery and intrigue they contain, and the interplay between character and setting drives her plots forward.
Galway expertly mines these settings for all the mystery and intrigue they contain, and the interplay between character and setting drives her plots forward.
Several of the stories in this collection flirt with the gothic, and “Heatstroke,” (which appears in Best Canadian Short Stories 2025) feels downright Lynchian (David or Jennifer, take your pick). “The Wisp” is a thoroughly entertaining story that pulses with a phantasmagoric energy, capturing haunting elements of Poe and Irving. Galway’s stories transport readers to fully-realized worlds, rich with detail and atmosphere.
One potential drawback to Galway’s style is that the stories don’t feel lived in. The mess of human life, often in the spilling of bodily fluids, is scrubbed clean by beautiful prose. That might be a stumbling block for readers expecting something else. Galway’s style, in a stark contrast to Raymond Carver’s dirty realism, is an immaculate lyricism. That’s not a bad thing, by any means. It both harkens back to an earlier style of storytelling while deftly plumbing new depths.
“The Wisp” is a thoroughly entertaining story that pulses with a phantasmagoric energy, capturing haunting elements of Poe and Irving.
If you are looking for stories of loneliness and longing told in a powerful voice, A Song for Wildcats is a must-have. Encountering a voice in fiction so strong and unique is reason enough to keep Caitlin Galway on your radar. Where her distinct style will lead her is anyone’s guess, but such a fresh voice on the Canadian fiction scene is worth celebrating and following.
Caitlin Galway is a novelist and short fiction writer. Her new story collection, A Song for Wildcats, follows her debut novel Bonavere Howl. Her short story “Heatstroke” will appear in Best Canadian Stories 2025. Her work has won the CBC Books Stranger than Fiction Contest, the Morton Prize, and Riddle Fence‘s Short Story Contest. She lives in Toronto.
Publisher: Dundurn Press (May 6, 2025)
Paperback: 8″ x 6″ (240 pages)
ISBN: 9781459755161
Jeff Dupuis is a writer and editor living in Toronto. He is the author of The Creature X Mystery novels and numerous short stories, which have been published in The Ex-Puritan and The Temz Review among others. Jeff is the editor, alongside A.G. Pasquella, of the anthology Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food, which will be published in 2025 by Dundurn Press.
